Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 143870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 480(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 480(@300wpm)
He stalks toward me and backs me against the wall, his lips so close to mine, I can almost taste them.
“Sick?” he murmurs. “No. But I definitely enjoyed it.”
“Did it happen by accident?” I swallow. “Us being matched at Sanctum?”
“No.”
My thoughts buffer as a swell of emotion overwhelms me. I feel raw, exposed, betrayed, and confused. But worse than that is how much I like what he just admitted.
I should be angry. I should want to walk away right now. But the primitive part of my brain is stuck on the fact that he wanted me so much, he set this entire thing up.
“You didn’t want to know,” he reminds me. “You stated that explicitly on your form.”
“Yes, but, Cristian—" My voice fractures as I fail to find an argument for that. “I don’t understand. I thought you hated me.”
“Is that what it feels like when we fight?” He presses closer, his rigid cock straining against me.
When I don’t answer him, his gaze drifts to the bite mark on my neck. “I think you get off on it.”
I want to deny it, because it sounds insane, but maybe there’s some truth to it. Sparring with Cristian has annoyed me beyond comprehension, but it’s also fed something inside me.
Whenever those dark eyes land on me from across the room, the anticipation of what he might say or do always makes my heart beat faster.
Part of me recognized there was something wrong with me, because I liked the game we played far too much. I just didn’t know he actually liked it too.
Regardless, there are so many reasons we shouldn’t be doing this.
“What about Jolie?” I ask.
“What about her?” He dips his head, breathing me in as his hands slide over my hips.
“You were with her at Eden.”
“Not by choice.” He twists his fingers through my hair, angling my head back as his gaze drops to my lips.
My breath catches as I register the dark hunger in his eyes. He doesn’t just want this. It’s primal for him.
I never could have known how much the mask actually protected me. Watching Cristian unleash his intensity is more dangerous than my wildest fantasies ever could have imagined.
And when he grips a handful of my ass, letting out one of those masculine growls I love so much, I know I’m so screwed.
I’m not sure how it happens. One second we’re breathing the same air, and in the next my lips are crushed against his in a rough, all-consuming kiss.
I get caught up in a feverish haze, drinking him in with a sense of urgency I can’t rationalize. My hands have seemingly developed a mind of their own, roaming over him with abandon. He’s so solid and warm and…mine.
That thought sends everything screeching to a halt as I come to my senses and end the kiss with a breathless declaration.
“Stop kissing me.”
A laugh rumbles from his chest as he pulls back to meet my gaze. “You kissed me.”
“No, I didn’t.” My face flushes.
“You definitely did.” He grabs me and drags me closer. “Are you going to deny that you liked it?”
“It didn’t mean anything,” I counter. “That was only for last night.”
“If you say so.” His lips ghost over my throat, completely disorienting me.
Every last brain cell evaporates as I melt into him, and a desperate ache claws its way through me.
“Tell me you want me inside you.” He bites the words against my ear.
A strangled sound ejects from my mouth as I try to recall one of the thousand reasons we shouldn’t be doing this. I know they exist, but I’m drawing a blank, and in the moment, I don’t really care.
“I want you inside me,” I rasp.
Just one more time, to get it out of my system.
That’s what I tell myself as he lifts me into his arms and carries me down the hallway.
I can’t focus on anything else as I soak up the warmth of his bare chest, fingers threading through his hair as I kiss my way down his throat.
This kind of chemistry is insane. It’s definitely not normal. But the baser side of me doesn’t care to analyze that too deeply as I slip my free hand into his pants.
He bites out a curse as I wrap my palm around his cock and start stroking him. “We’re not going to make it to the bedroom if you keep doing that.”
“I don’t care,” I pant. “Fuck me right here.”
“No.” He smacks me on the ass.
“What the hell?” I glare up at him.
“Don’t start pretending you don’t like it now.”
I stroke him harder, taking satisfaction when a tortured sound gets caught in his throat. But when we reach his room, all bets are off.
He kicks the door shut behind us and deposits me on the bed, eyes darkening as they move over me.
His palm drifts up my calf, all the way to the thigh-high slit of my dress, pushing the fabric higher until most of my leg is bared.